DOVER — Measured Progress has been awarded a two-year, $1.5 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to begin researching what may be an evolution of testing for real world experiences.

The research will also attempt to develop a new way of evaluating teachers that goes beyond multiple choice tests to more effectively measure how and what students are learning.

The Garrison City-based nonprofit, considered an industry leader in customized student assessments, hopes to use the money to create a system that goes beyond seeing how well teachers can "teach to the test" during annual required standardized testing, according to Chief Executive Officer Stuart Kahl.

Kahl said the idea is to create a system that combines performance-based tasks, such as a small written report based on a piece of supplied reading or an oral presentation, with other measures of student achievement so the students are tested in scenarios they will likely encounter in the "real world" and teachers can be evaluated on how well they develop these skills.

"When they're out in life, they aren't asked to answer multiple choice questions all the time — they're not exact tasks you'd expect someone to do, but they are related," he said. "The performance measure is just a more direct measure of a task you'd expect people to do in non-test measures."

Measured Progress plans to use the money from the foundation to create a system that helps improve the evaluation of teaching effectiveness and teacher accountability in grades and subject areas not covered by federally-mandated testing.

Kahl said most of those tests often only measure reading and math skills in grades 3 through 8 and one high school grade in each state. They don't test all of those grades in science, social studies, writing and other subjects — let alone annually test the younger grades and all high school students.

In addition to content knowledge, Kahl said students will be able to capture problem solving and critical thinking capabilities and a variety of communication skills during the tests, which will be customized for teachers and won't have a "one-size-fits-all" evaluation approach like current national testing.

He said having that level of customization and "fairness" is important because not all grades and regions grow at the same rate in the same subjects as others. He said this factor will be important in the development of the program so teachers are held accountable while ensuring their students are being educated using the most effective and personally-beneficial methods. The grant's funding ends in January 2013.

Kahl said the first step of the process is to meet with national education experts next week to identify questions and approaches that should be used in research testing. These sessions will take place at Measured Progress scoring and contracted facilities around the country.

Kahl said the Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing and the Shell Centre will provide the majority of the tasks. He said the data would then be used in special research probes to begin combining various performance and data measures to create a profile of teacher effectiveness for the traditionally untested grades and subjects.

After data collection concludes, Kahl said the company will develop the system and begin disseminating the approach to school districts here and across the nation in the hope that individual administrators find it beneficial and can begin implementation.

Kahl said it is a great honor to receive a grant from the foundation, as organizations must be invited by the foundation to apply for a grant and each year only a relatively small number actually receive large awards.

Officials at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation said they were proud to award money to Measured Progress, as the Dover company's efforts to improve education fit directly within one of the missions of the foundation.

"With this grant, Measured Progress will focus on key elements we believe are critical to increasing student achievement in the United States — providing all students with an effective teacher in every classroom, every year, in order to help ensure they graduate from high school prepared to succeed in college and the workforce," said Vicki Phillips, the foundation's director of education in the United States College Ready program.

More information about Measured Progress is available at www.measuredprogress.org, while more information about the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is available at www.gatesfoundation.org.

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